Heartlines
by Padfoot Arcanine
Summary: "Can I have a table?" she asks, and the practiced, smooth words Cress had planned in response completely lodge in his throat. CressElesa, oneshot


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Pokemon._

_**Summary: "Can I have a table?" she asks, and the practiced, smooth words Cress had planned in response completely lodge in his throat. CressElesa, oneshot**_

_Okay! My first new oneshot in a while. I've been recently reading a lot of Pokemon fanfiction and I really miss the fandom. So, I really hope that y'all enjoy this little fic of mine. I really liked writing this. It was really fun and interesting and pretty different from my other fics. Anyway. I find the pair of CressElesa really fascinating, and more people need to write about them. Anyway, thanks for reading!_

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**Heartlines**

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She's an enigma.

Cress has never really been faced with anyone like her before. In fact, he doesn't know many people who have. Sure, she's famous and a model and all of that - there are plenty of people with her profession and whatnot - but she's _different_.

He's not sure what it is about her. Maybe it's because she's so tall and leggy that she earns the ire of every girl in Unova (and Kanto and Johto, etc.). Maybe it's because of her lightning blonde hair and those blue eyes that look to be the color of ocean water. Maybe it's because of her type of choice - being the first female electric-type gym leader makes her stand out.

Maybe it's none of those things.

Maybe she just has that certain _something _that makes a person stand out.

Cress isn't sure what to call it, but he just knows that he is something particularly special.

He doesn't get to see her much, seeing as he has a gym to run, as does she, and that their towns are far apart. Though that doesn't mean he has no thoughts of her, he hates to admit.

He sees her on covers of magazines, on commercials, always looking stunning in some kind of designer clothes.

Cress has always been a fan of beautiful things, after all.

There's more to her than that, though, he knows. Not a lot of people see that in her. He hears the random comments on her beauty, how people can't think that someone so beautiful can be intelligent or a good gym leader. These things enrage Cress more than he wants to let on - he's supposed to be the cooler one of his brothers, the water-user, the one who never gets ruffled. He'd hate to imagine the way that his brothers would tease him if they knew…

(Though he could always bring up Chili's fascination with Skyla or Cilan's slight crush on Iris.)

As these thoughts run through his head, Cress just sighs and goes back to tending his Panpour.

It's a dull day in the gym, nothing happening, no trainers, no lost tourists, hardly any customers… The definition of the word dull.

He runs a hand through his hair and cleans off the tables from the last customers' visit. He cringes as his fingers brush against the food they had left behind on their plates. Still wrinkling his nose, he starts to make his way to the back end of the place when the little bell rings, signaling a customer.

Not thinking that it would be anyone of merit, he doesn't even look, but when he hears his brothers start to snicker to themselves, he turns.

And gapes.

Elesa herself stands there in the doorway, one hand on a slim hip and the other in her hair, a look of complete neutrality across her features. There is a faint sparkling of interest in her eyes, though Cress tries not to think about what that could be about. She steps in through the door, an aura of confidence and worth emanating off of her form.

She looks directly at Cress, unabashed, and says, "Can I have a table?"

The practiced, smooth words Cress had planned in response completely lodge in his throat.

He doesn't manage to gape like a lovestruck fool for too long, and finally clears his throat - too loudly for his liking - and nods, steering her over to one of the tables nearest a window. One of his particular favorites.

"What can I get for you today, miss?" he asks, trying to be as pleasant as possible.

"No need to call me _miss_, Cress," she waves him off with an amused smile. "Elesa is just fine."

"As you wish," he replies, keeping with the tone of the restaurant.

"And you don't have to talk like that, either." She cracks a smile at him. The very situation makes Cress feel uncomfortable. He wants to run away, but knows he can't.

"_Elesa_!" Chili's loud, obnoxious voice comes from beside him. He actually touches her shoulder in greeting, an action that makes Cress tense up as if he has been stung by a Scolipede.

She gives him a fond smile. "Well, the difference between you brothers is remarkable."

"Cress is just shy," Chili says, as if it is the most obvious thing. "You just make him nervous."

"Do I?" she asks, an interested eyebrow quirking in amusement. "Why is that?"

Cress purses his lips a bit, feeling the urge to throttle his brother, but he does not. That would be most unbecoming. Especially in front of Elesa. "No...no..."

"Oh, I see what you mean, Chili," she says, giving his brother a smile. The very smile that made her famous. What she says next shocks him. "Would you like to sit and eat lunch with me?"

Cress gapes like a Magikarp.

"That's a _yes_, in dork language," Chili says, pushing Cress' paralyzed form into the seat across from the electric-trainer. He finds that he has forgotten how to breathe. "I'll get you two something to drink, and then take your orders."

This is not the situation Cress had envisioned when thinking about his first lunch with Elesa.

Actually, this is not the situation he had envisioned when having his first lunch with _anyone_.

Cress suddenly finds his hands very interesting, playing with the hem of the tablecloth. Elesa starts laughing.

"What?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Chili returns in record time with their drinks - two waters, he sees - and places one down in front of each of them.

Elesa orders the salad, and Cress just glares at Chili. His flame-haired brother does not leave until Cress barks out that he would like the soup with a side order of please-hurl-me-off-a-cliff.

Elesa laughs at this, and Cress feels a bit lighter.

"I had no idea I was such bad company," she jokes, just as Chili leaves.

"What?" Cress is stunned. "No!" He waves his hands. "Not at all! I - "

Elesa grins a bit wider. "A joke."

"Oh..." he mumbles. "Right."

The food is brought to them in record time. Cress supposes this is due to the slow day, but he isn't complaining. Dreamlike as this situation is, he is frightened he will do something to make Elesa hate him. And that is the last thing he wants.

Then, surprisingly, the mood changes.

She is easy to talk to, he finds. And once he passes his nervous stage, he notices that his words are flowing easier, his movements more natural, though his heartbeat has yet to decrease at all.

She is not a wallflower, either. She actively participates in the conversation, which ranges from the topic of Pokemon to surfing to favorite foods, and other random tidbits of information. Things always seem to come back to Pokemon, though he has no problem with that. It is what he knows, after all. That, and how to make the best milkshake known to man or 'mon.

"Your Panpour is doing well?"

He smiles. "Yes. How is your Zebstrika?"

"Fine, thank you."

"We have some Pokemon food especially made for electric-types, if you would like to take some home with you."

A grin. "I would like that."

He finds that she would like to own a Luxray one day, something that he takes note of. Her favorite color is, surprisingly, blue. She likes to read mystery novels. She dislikes

The day turns into evening, something that Cress had not seen coming. Elesa smiles gratefully when she finds that the tab has already been paid by a very considerate Cilan. Cress must think to thank him later.

She rises from her seat after wiping her hands on a napkin. "I guess I need to get going. My Braviary doesn't like to fly at night, much."

Cress rises with her, giving her a cordial smile. "I understand."

"I'd like to do this again," she says, stunning him. "That is, if you would like."

"Yes!" he says, all too quickly, and then coolly composes himself. "Yes...I would like that."

Elesa laughs at him, low and pleasant sounding. She puts a hand on his shoulder as she passes him, and the very simple touch of her fingers jolts something deep inside his stomach. "Bye, Cress. This was lovely."

Cress doesn't think to respond until she is at the door, and then he calls, "Bye, Elesa!" in a frantic attempt to salvage whatever composure he had left.

She turns around, gives him a wink, and then is gone from his sight.

The blue-haired trainer does not leave his spot, not until Chili starts singing some annoying song about kissing.

"I've never seen something so awkward," Cilan quips slyly.

"Shut up," Cress responds.

Though, he doesn't mind if his brothers make fun of him anymore.

Especially when he just had the most spectacular lunch of his short life.

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_**End.**_


End file.
